Many beverages like espresso and other coffee beverages, milk beverages, chocolate beverages, . . . are often prepared by dosing and mixing a food soluble powder with a diluent. According to one type of beverage preparation machine the food soluble powder is stored in a non disposable canister that is part of the machine and that is regularly refilled. For the refilling operation the canister is pulled out of the machine, its top is opened and powder is emptied inside. Before pulling the canister out of the machine, its outlet is closed to avoid that ingredient falls out of the container during its removal and that it dirties the dispenser or the floor around the dispenser. When the dispenser comprises several containers, each container outlet must be successively manually closed by the operator. As it is a manual operation, there is always a risk that the operator forgets to close one outlet. Besides, depending on the number of containers, the successive closures of the outlets can take time; moreover each outlet must be reopened too once the containers have been refilled and must be replaced in the dispenser.
One aim of the present invention is to solve these problems and in particular to propose a beverage dispenser comprising at least one beverage ingredient container which can be automatically and systematically closed and opened avoiding an oversight of the operator.
Another aim of the present invention is to propose a beverage dispenser comprising at least one beverage ingredient container in which refilling can be implemented without dirtying the machine environment.